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Define the design: 11B


I'm avoiding addressing the postseason in much detail right now. I don't have the time, and I just can't put in the effort. It's too soon. It's impossible for me to get worked up over the Division Series. I can't even name all the broadcasters on TBS. And every day some team is throwing some player on the field that I could have sworn was first baseman, only to realize that he's a starting pitcher.

Yeah, I'm not qualified to talk about this stuff.

When the Championship Series arrives -- the real playoffs -- then I might address it, depending on how things shake out. But there are a lot of teams left that I don't have strong feelings for, so I'll just stand off in the corner and observe. I'll try not to judge you. Really.

Instead I'll be over here coming up with some more titles for card sets! Judging card sets, I'm good at!

I'm focusing on 2011 Bowman tonight because it's quick and easy. (Being one of those bloggers that writes four paragraphs and is finished for the day is sounding more and more appealing).


In fact, I thought I had the Define the Design name picked out the instant I bought my first rack pack of 2011 Bowman. The horizontal cards immediately reminded me of a flat screen TV.


It's as if you're watching the action through a television. It's a rather cool design, and I don't say that often about Bowman designs. Very sharp.

Unfortunately, Bowman -- and all other card companies -- have an aversion to producing an all-horizontal set. So a lot of the cards, the majority of the cards, look like this:


Unless you tilt a flat-screen TV on its side, no televisions look like this. There isn't much of a market for vertical televisions. It might come in handy for a documentary about giraffes. Giraffes in high-rise buildings. There's your market.

So, given that, what was I going to call these cards? With a bunch of vertical cards in the set, how I could I call it "The Flat Screen TV Set"?

How could I marginalize all the vertical cards like that?

They might claim discrimination. Start a picket line. Get raucous in board meetings. File a lawsuit. I'd be forced to call it "The Bowman is Beautiful In All Sizes and Shapes ... How Dare You Judge Us" set.

I decided to back off the project for awhile.

I thought about it for a few months -- meaning I put the post aside and never brought it up again until I needed a topic to write about -- and then stumbled across a card that I hadn't noticed before.

It was an "it's meant to be" card.


That's not just a sign.

That's a SIGN.

If Bowman's going to telegraph the pitch, I'm swinging away.

Vertical Bowman cards, you've just been rendered moot. The judge has rejected your suit. There is no appeal.

The Flat Screen TV Set it is.

Comments

Anonymous said…
You could say that the flat screen TV set has a tablet subset....
dayf said…
Bikini Top set. A-cups in vertical, D-cups in horizontal. Don't make me MSPaint boobs into a Bowman card for proof.
Ryan G said…
dayf: do it.

I was thinking the iTouch set - it works well in vertical and horizontal. Though the flat screen name was the first I thought of when I saw the design.
John Bateman said…
Like Dayf said - the Bikini Top(p)s Set - see Donruss 1982 - 1/7/11 post - this set has been named and branded.